By Dan Heyman, Public News Service- VA RICHMOND, Va. – More Virginia students are getting breakfast in school, according to a new report, and hunger-fighting advocates say the state can do more to help boost learning. According to the Food Research and Action Center, more of the kids who need it are gaining access to […]

The annual national school breakfast report released today by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) finds that 221,414 low-income children in Virginia participated in school breakfast on an average day during the 2013-2014 School Year, an increase of 5,000 from the previous year. “This is a step in the right direction,” said Virginia Hunger […]

This morning, the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services will consider two bills to improve Virginia’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, also known as TANF.  One of those bills, SB 802, would pave the way for periodic increases in benefit amounts.  TANF provides cash assistance for Virginia’s poorest families with children.  However, benefit […]

This upcoming school year, high poverty schools across Virginia have an opportunity to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students by utilizing an exciting new option known as the Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP. The state Department of Education released a list of schools that qualify for the option late this spring and school […]

In his 1964 State of the Union address, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared an “unconditional war on poverty in America,” urging Congress and all Americans to join him in the fight.  Many of the federal programs that began 50 years ago to help wage this war are still in existence today, including the Supplemental Nutrition […]

Could you eat for $32 a week?  Since Monday, November 4, Virginia Poverty Law Center staff have been doing just that.  We kicked off our first annual Food Stamp Challenge with shopping trips to area grocery stores and then began the onerous work of making our fares stretch.  Predictably, peanut butter and pasta were staples […]

By LaTonya Reed and Amy Woolard, Richmond Times-Dispatch Op-Ed Although Virginia ranks high in overall measures of wealth — we are eighth in the nation in per capita income — many of our families still struggle with hunger. According to data released earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly 10 percent of […]

By Kathy Adams, The Virginian-Pilot Efforts to expand welfare eligibility, drug test some welfare recipients and limit where their benefits may be used are progressing in the Virginia Senate. The Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services this morning approved the measures, including a reworked version of a proposal to require drug testing for welfare […]

Virginians who depend on SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps) to buy food will have a change coming in the fall. The change will cause a temporary delay in benefits for some recipients and will require a community response to keep families fed. Instead of everyone getting their benefit on the first day of […]

With another General Assembly session behind us, the staff at the Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) has had some time to reflect on what our advocacy work means and why it matters. Regardless of which political party holds a majority in the state legislature, and in spite of the often negative rhetoric that comes with […]